Historical Nonfiction

Why English is So Weird

Etymological curiosities

• Viking ships had rudders on the right side, which the Vikings called styrbord, Old Norse for “steer side” — hence, “starboard.” The Vikings docked their ships on the left side, which they called the ladebord — “loading side”. This eventually became the English “larboard”, which sounded so much like “starboard” that it caused problems. Eventually, the British Admiralty ordered that the left side be known as the “port” side.
• The word “daisy” comes from the Old English “daeges eage”, meaning “day’s eye”, as it reminded people of the sun.
• The word “holiday” comes from “holy day”. During the Middle Ages, there were over 50 “holy days” and festival days, exclusive of Sundays, every year. This meant that peasants would only work for 260 days out of the year.
• Spaghetti means “little strings” in Italian.
• The word “dandelion” comes from the supposed resemblance of the leaf spikes of this plant to a lion’s tooth, or, in French, dent de lion.

(Source: allfunandgames.ca)

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